The Nightfinder
by MusicKingdom
Summary: When Aria first moved to Mystic Falls, she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. But, after two years, a stranger she's never seen before with clear blue eyes and black hair approaches her in the hallway - and he's hungry.
1. Chapter 1

I hit the button on the water machine over and over before finally deciding that nothing was going to come out. Clenching my fist, I crumpled the foam cup in my hand before tossing it in the bin and heading over to my locker to put away my books before heading home.

Already, people had begun to thin out and I was about to leave when someone caught my eye. He had black hair and clear blue eyes that were staring right at me, and he looked too old to go here, I most definitely hadn't seen him before, so I felt a little nervous when he started walking towards me. He towered over me, as I'm not very tall, and then leant over slightly so his eyes were level with mine, his face too close to mine for comfort.

At first I thought he was going to kiss me, and I had my hand ready and waiting to slap him square across the face, but instead he started speaking.

'You will follow me, and will not say a word.' His pupils shrank down into tiny dots and then reverted back to their original size, and then he turned and started walking away. I wasn't sure what to do, but I was pretty sure if I didn't do what he said then I would be in more trouble, so I followed. He led me to an empty classroom, ordered me to sit down on one of the tables and then sat down next to me, once again moving his face close to mine. 'Don't make a move or sound.' His eyes did the weird pupil move again, and then he started to move towards my neck. Ok, now I was sure he was going to kiss me.

I slapped him. Hard.

'What the hell?' I said, climbing off the table. He looked up at me, his face full of confusion. I could see the red mark my hand had left on his cheek, but as soon as I noticed it, it disappeared. He stood up and looked at me.

'Oh God. Are you a vampire?' He asked.

'What? There's no such thing! And how come that mark just disappeared? Surely I hit you harder than-'. Before I knew it he advanced on me and pinned me down on the floor. I tried to scream but he covered my mouth, stopping any sound coming out of it at all. All in one quick and sudden movement he picked me up and carried me through the window, travelling so fast the whole world was a blur.

After a few seconds he stopped and placed me down, and once I had recovered from feeling like I was going to throw up, I realised that I was standing inside a large living room. The stranger who took me here was standing in front of me, staring, and another person came and stood next to him.

'Damon, who's this?' He asked.

'She can't be compelled. And she isn't a vampire. She doesn't even know about them.'

'And she also has a name.' I butted in, irritably. They didn't respond.

'What do you mean? Like not at all?' The stranger who I had just met looked confused, but then he walked up to me and said 'I'm going to tell you to do some things, and you need to try as hard as you can _not_ to do them.' He noticed my worried expression. 'Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you.' After that, he stepped close to me and looked me in the eyes, much like the other person did, and I felt incredibly nervous as once again his pupils shrank down into tiny dots. 'Turn around.' He ordered. I stood still and he frowned. 'Turn around.' He repeated, slower. Once again I stood still.

Damon then came and stood next to him.

'She must be on vervain.' He concluded. 'Who are you?'

'I think you should answer that first.' I replied, getting slightly annoyed that they weren't telling me anything. Damon let out a slightly frustrated sigh.

'Have you ever heard of vampires?' He asked. I nodded.

'But they're not real, right? They're just in books and movies.' I replied, with an obvious hint of doubt in my voice. Damon shook his head.

'Nope. I'm Damon and this is Stefan. We're vampires.'

I looked at both of them, not sure what to believe. Vampires _aren't _real. They can't be. I shook my head.

'That can't be true.' I said, but uncertainty was still clear in the way I said it. 'You're crazy.'

Damon laughed, and was beginning to scare me a little. 'Oh really? If I'm not a vampire, then how did I manage to carry you almost four miles from your school to this how within less than three seconds?' I shook my head again, not sure what to say, and then Damon opened his mouth, showing me two long fangs that appeared from his teeth. Before I could respond, Stefan turned to face Damon.

'What were you doing at the school?'

Damon let his fangs disappear and he closed his mouth, looking uncomfortable.

'I may have gotten a little hungry.'

'What's wrong with a blood bag?' Stefan frowned

'I'm just so bored of them.'

'So you chose a school of all places to go feed? Damon! Feeding of people is bad, but students?'

'Feeding?' I interrupted. 'Where you going to _eat_ me?' Damon laughed.

'Well, if you put it that way.'

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	2. Chapter 2

Stefan wasn't so amused.

"Damon. What are we going to do with her? There's somebody giving her vervain without telling her for a reason."

"We could keep her here, let the vervain leave her system and then compel her again to see if she knows anything else." Immediately I did not like where this conversation was going.

"Keep me here? No!" I start to back away, but Damon grabs my hand.

"Please? Just for a few days?"

I pull as much as my muscles will allow but he is too strong, and pain sears through my wrist from his unnaturally strong grip.

"Let go of me!"

Instead, he pulls me toward him and once again I feel myself being carried at high speed, although this time I am not put down so gently. My knees connect with a cold hard surface, and the rest of my body quickly follows. Blinking, I look up to see a heavy metal door slam shut, followed by the clunk of a lock. There's no way I'm getting out of here.

I stand up and brush the dust off of my legs before walking over to the door. Even though I know it's no use, I slam my shoulder into the door with as much force physically possible for someone my size. Over and over again I throw my weight against it until I no longer can, and then slide down the door until I am sitting with my back against it. It's only then that I take in what the room actually looks like. The walls are made of brick and there's a metal heater in the corner on my right, but it looks like it doesn't actually work.

It's cold and my summer uniform offers no warmth against it, so I rub my hands up and down my arms. Pain throbs through my upper left arm where I collided with the door, and a dull ache passes through my wrist from Damon's iron grip, which I attempt to massage out, only giving up when it just gets worse.

The back wall is made of brick and I look around in hope of another way out, but I can't see one. I rest my head against the door and close my eyes for a moment. What will my father think when I don't come home?

Once, when I was younger, I strayed too far from the house and got lost. I walked for hours on end looking for some place I knew, before my father finally found me and took me home. I remember the frown he wore as he told me never to do it again, the look of disappointment as he sent me to my room, even the worried expression when he first found me. What will he think when I'm gone for days? Maybe even weeks. And he can't scoop me up and take me home this time.

I pull myself up and begin pacing the room. I've got to get out somehow. How? Once again I find myself searching the room for another way of escape, even though I know that there isn't. Every second that passes I get more and more anxious to get out; until I have paced so long that the balls of my feet have gone numb, yet I continue.

Once it feels physically impossible to carry on I sit and rest against one of the brick walls, leaning my head back against it. Tiredness begins to take over my body and I try to fight it, because I would rather sleep anywhere than near Stefan and Damon, but before I know it I find myself falling into a restless sleep, my dreams quickly turning into nightmares.

. . .

"Hey."

I jerk awake as a hand grabs onto my shoulder. I realise it is Stefan crouched in front of me, but that does not make me feel any less alarmed, even though his voice is soft, not hostile like how Damon's would be. In his hand he has a plate of toast which he offers to me, and I take it. Only now I realise how hungry I am, taking huge bites and swallowing them whole.

"You thirsty?"

I nod.

He stands up with the now empty plate and speeds away in a blur, so fast that if I had blinked I would have missed it, before returning with a full glass of water. I take it gratefully, drinking the entire glass in seconds, then pull myself up, all of my stiff muscles protesting, and give it back to him.

"When can I leave?"

"When the vervain leaves your system. So we can compel you to tell us the truth as to why it's there in the first place." He bends over and picks up the empty plate, balancing the glass on top.

I fold my arms.

"I'm not lying. I think I'd know if someone was putting, whatever that is, in me."

"How am I supposed to know that?"

I ignore his question by looking around the room. The door is open wide, I could just run out if I wanted, but I know that would be foolish since he is much faster than me. Instead I pace again, and my feet remind me that I did it far too long yesterday. Stefan watches me for a few seconds, and then shakes his head and laughs.

"Don't your feet hurt? You were doing that all last night."

"How would you know that?" I say, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I could hear you. I was trying to sleep but all I could hear was you stomping around."

"Why would you care anyway?" I stop and lean my back against the wall. If he's willing to leave me locked up for days then why should he care if my feet are a bit sore?

"No reason. Just take it easy. We'll try to compel you again tonight and see if the vervain's gone yet." He turns towards the door to go.

"Wait."

As he turns back, I notice the colour of his eyes – a light brown mixed with blue – and it takes me a second to remember what I was about to say.

"What's vervain?" I ask.

He looks at me for a moment, as if he's unsure if what I asked is genuine.

"It's an herb. It stops vampires compelling you to do as they say."

I nod, slowly.

"Right. And compulsion is that weird thing you do with your eyes, and I'm supposed to do everything you ask?"

Stefan nods.

"Well, I've never heard of it before."

"Tell that to me tonight, when the vervain has left your system." He says, then turns and closes the door behind him and locking it.

. . .

When the evening finally comes I don't even know, as there is no light down in this cell I've been put inside. I'm sitting, my back against the furthest wall, when the door swings open and Damon strides inside, Stefan following. He pulls me up roughly by my arm, the arm that's still a little sore from crashing into the door repetitively, and I wince.

"Turn around," he says, looking me in the eye and letting go of my arm. I glare at him and stand still, massaging the pain from my shoulder. He throws his hands up and turns away. "Dammit!"

My cheek twitches and I grin as he storms out of the room, I don't know why, but it comforts me when I get under his skin. It's nice to get him back, since he's locked me in here for a whole day.

Stefan lingers, as though unsure whether to follow Damon or not. He looks at me suspiciously, and then backs away, locking the door behind him. I lie down against the wall, shut my eyes, and sleep.

. . .

"Get up!"

Once again I am jerked awake, but this time it's by Damon. He pulls me up onto my feet, and I let out a long yawn, stretching my arms to get rid of the stiffness that's built up inside of them.

"Why so early? It must be like fi-"

"Oh, shut up." He looks me in the eye, his eyes shrinking down again. This time, I play along. I want to see his reaction when I finally act compelled.

I pretend my voice catches in my throat, and I put on the best 'scared' face I can manage – and it seems to work. At first he raises his eyebrows, but then he nods, looking like he expected it.

"Turn around."

I turn, trying to look slightly robotic, and when I face him again he is smiling.

"Now tell me, why have you got vervain? And why is it in your system?"

This time it takes me a while to answer, but I want to keep up the act a little longer.

"My friends were talking about vampires, how they were real, and it scared me." I try to make my voice sound monotone, like its being forced out of me. "They said that if I had vervain in my system it would stop you from controlling me, so I drank some and it worked."

I seem to be better at lying then I thought.

"What's your name?"

"Willow" I say, using the first name that springs to mind – the name of one of my friends.

"Willow… what?"

"Harper." This time I take my dog's name, but the thought makes me want to laugh and the corner of my mouth twitches. Stefan, who I had not noticed was watching from a distance, shakes his head.

"She's lying."

I smile and step back, feeling triumphant. Damon, on the other hand, looks furious.

"Dammit!" He turns to face Stefan. "What are we going to do now? If she can't be compelled then…"

"Then you should let me go," I finish his sentence for him. He looks at me for a moment, but then looks away, completely blanking out what I just said.

"She has a point, Damon," Stefan says, breaking him out of his thought bubble. "I'm guessing that she probably has friends – family who will be looking for her. The longer we keep her here, the more anxious they will get."

I moved here two years ago, and transferred to Mystic Falls High School. At first I didn't know anyone, and I will never forget that feeling of isolation when I had to try find a place to fit in, when everyone knew everyone and I knew no one. But then, slowly, friendships began to form, and important bonds were made. I had friends, friends who now will be incredibly worried about the fact that I've been missing for nearly two days.

Damon takes a few steps away, and then turns back.

"Yeah. She has family. _Family._ And they may know more than she does." He points at me.

"_She _has a name, you know."

I know that I am pushing it, as he already hates me, but he just raises his eyebrows at me.

"And no, it's not Willow. And my second name isn't Harper either."

"So what is it then?"

I fold my arms.

"Now, why would I want to tell you that?"

It appears that I have just crossed the line.

Damon races towards me faster than I can comprehend, and before I know it, I am pinned against the wall and his hands are around my throat. I gasp for air, but it doesn't come, so I try to fight him off, even though I know I'm not strong enough.

"Stop being a pain. I want to know who the hell you are, and if I can't compel it out of you, I will have to use force."

All I can respond with is some animal like gagging sounds. Somewhere I hear Stefan tell Damon to stop, but I can't tell where, as I am too focused on trying to breathe. I feel his hands being pulled away, and I drop to the ground, gulping in as much air that I can pull into my lungs.

"Aria," I spit out. "My name's Aria."

As it turned out, Stefan had wrestled Damon off of me and is currently holding him back, but when he hears me he just rolls his eyes.

"Finally." Stefan lets go of him and walks toward me, and I shuffle backwards to get away from him.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. And I won't let him either." He casts an irritable look at Damon before offering his hand to me. Unsure, I slowly reach out and take hold of it and he pulls me up, but it's different to how Damon jerked me up earlier. He's much gentler, and manages not to pull my arm out of its socket, which is a good sign.

"Look, Damon, I don't care what you do to her, so long as you don't hurt her. We've got enough problems on our hands."

"Look, _Stefan_, I don't care one bit about her. If she can't be compelled then that means she is trouble, and I need answers. There are enough supernatural's in Mystic Falls, we don't need any more. So, I want answers, Aria." He faces me.

"No." I speak before Stefan does. There is a glint in Damon's eye that suggests he is not going to try to avoid violence to get these 'answers'. They both turn to face me.

"No. I won't tell you where they are. You won't be able to find them."

"I am not afraid to hurt you, Aria."

"_Damon_"

Before even Stefan could stop him, I once again feel his hands grab my neck, but this time ten times worse.

"What is your surname?"

The only sound that manages to escape is a faint "No."

His hands tighten even more, and black spots begin to appear in the corners of my vision. I hear Stefan yell from somewhere, and the grip loosens, but I still can't get any air past the invisible barrier that has formed in my throat.

Stefan's face swims into view, and he bites his wrist and presses it to my mouth, telling me to drink. Immediately a burning sensation spreads over my lips, into my mouth and down my neck. I attempt to let out a scream of agony, but instead all I can do is let out this half-cough/half-gag, until finally the darkness takes over completely and I slip into a state of unconsciousness.


End file.
